Haley Stevens: “I think we ought to make certain that the people are providing service to these analog sets now. The National…”

“I think we ought to make certain that the people are providing service to these analog sets now. The National Association of Broadcasters opposes this amendment. Furthermore, I oppose it for the main reason that we are bringing into this country enormous supplies of what are called digital television sets now, but they are not digital-ready. They are still analog, in effect. We wanted to put on this bill a provision that said you cannot bring into this country or manufacture in this country a set, from a certain date--say, 90 days from now--that is not digital-ready. It cannot operate without a converter box. The difficulty is, consumers are buying thousands and thousands and thousands--into the millions now--of sets, believing they are ready, but they are not ready. They are digital, but they are not digital-ready. They will not operate without a converter chip or converter box. Under the circumstances, we rely on the estimate of 73 million sets. Now, it isn't an argument: How many converter boxes should there be? Every set that is out there needs a converter box to operate. I am told by my staff, 20 million sets are sold annually, and still more than half of them are analog. There are a few of the very high-priced sets that are digital-ready. Some of these sets are in the bedrooms of the elderly. They are in elderly care centers. Every room has a little set. Now, who are we to say there are sets out there that don't get converter boxes?…”